What Happened in Albania?
by Catsrawesome
Summary: Winner for the contest Amber Ember7 and bethechange1011 made about who could write the best What Happened in Albania story! I hope you like it!


Reyna's POV

If I ever go on a holiday with some of my Roman friends (not that I ever really go on holidays), I will NOT suggest Albania.

It wasn't because it was a terrible place. In fact, when Nico had accidentally shadow-traveled us to there, my first thought was that it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We were very high up, on some type of mountain. Behind me were hills that were such a bright green that I thought they might have been inhabited by leprechauns. In front of me, forget-me-not blue water lay as still as my heart. To my right and left were meadows filled with flowers in every color of the rainbow. For one desperate second, I wanted to skip through them, but I quickly mastered myself. I have already lost control of my troops. The last thing that we needed was for me to loose control of myself.

Nico suddenly collapsed.

"Pretty," he said lazily, "Everything is rainbows..."

He was snoring in five seconds.

Coach was also eyeing the flower filled meadows. But unlike me or Nico, he was eyeing them with hunger.

"Don't even think about it," I warned him.

"Aww, come on!" Coach whined, "Just a nibble?"

"You just had lunch!" I cried out, exasperated.

"Pretty please with Chuck Norris on top?" begged Coach, looking at me with what he must have thought was a puppy-dog face.

"Oh, fine," I said, half exasperated and half amused, "Just don't go to far."

Hedge probably didn't hear that last part, because as soon as I gave him my word he ran as fast as his short goat legs could carry him and almost literally dived into the daisies.

I sighed, unsheathed my sword, and started to sharpen it. Listening to the smooth, rhythmic sound of rock on metal soothed me. It calmed me down. I imagined wielding this sword in battle, pictured myself leading my troops to victory. I imagined Gaia screaming in pain, and slowly drifting to sleep...

I then saw seven figures rush to join the battle, yelling defiantly. I saw Hazel summoning precious jewels, slowing down the monsters. Frank had changed into a elephant and had charged valiantly at the offensive side. The Latino boy (His name is Leo, right?) had set himself on fire and was shooting fireballs at the attackers, and then he took out a small hammer and bashed everything within arms reach. Annabeth was fighting with both the skill and grace of a Roman, and with the ferocity to rival that of my own Cohort. And of course, Percy Jackson was fighting at her side, occasionally blasting the monsters with water.

_Don't think about him, _I firmly told myself.

I then saw Piper, fighting with her dagger. She was practically radiating beauty. The monsters would stop, gapping, when they saw her. In return, she would smile warmly at them and then turn them to dust. And fighting beside her, at the moment blasting a Giant with lightning, was Jason.

_Don't think about him either, _I repeated to myself.

Then, everything went wrong.

The Earth started to ripple like it was disturbed water. Everyone started sinking into the ground like it was quicksand. Leo was the first to go down. Before he could even say a word, his head had gone under. Hazel and Frank followed Leo one after the other. Only four were left.

Suddenly, Piper's eyes started to glow. She opened her mouth, and started to chant in a voice that wasn't hers.

_Seven Half-bloods shall answer the call_

Piper sunk out of sight. Annabeth continued in a similar fashion, her eyes even more intimidating than before.

_To storm or fire the world must fall_

The Earth claimed her, and Percy took her place.

_An oath to keep with a final breath_

Percy joined the others, and only Jason was left. I was frozen in fear as he finished the haunting prophecy.

_And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death_

But instead of sinking like the others, he turned his head and stared right at me. He seemed to glide towards me. He then grabbed my shoulders and screamed at me two words.

_Wake me._

"N-no," I stammered, which was very unlike me, "N-never! I-I will never w-wake you!"

_WAKE ME!_

Gaia's voice filled every part of me, and I screamed along with her.

I flung up and nearly stabbed myself with my sword. My breathing was labored, and my heart wanted to burst out of my chest. I hadn't realized that I had fallen asleep.

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream pierced the air, and I spun towards the sound. Coach Hedge was screaming bloody-murder and was running for his life. My eyes widened, and I started shaking Nico.

For chasing Hedge were five hydras.

Coach Hedge was by my side in seconds. He had his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

"I... couldn't... smell them!" he panted, "The flowers... masked the stench!"

"Then how did they find us?" I asked, frantically trying to wake up Nico.

"I don't know!" yelled Coach, "Want me to bash them for you?"

"Why didn't you bash them when they attacked you?" I asked.

"I had left my favorite club here!"

I rolled my eyes, but continued to try to wake the son of Hades.

"Nico, come on! Wake up!"

"Reyna, that isn't going to work!" said Hedge.

"Well, do you have a better idea?" I snapped at him.

"Actually, I do," he said.

He crouched down next to Nico, took a deep breath, and yelled into his ear, "OH MY GODS! IT'S A MCDONALDS!"

Nico flung up, yelling, "GET ME A HAMBURGER!"

For a second he looked confused, and then his expression changed from confusion to annoyance.

"What did you wake me up for?" he demanded.

I pointed at the hydras, and the little color in Nico's pale face disappeared.

"That's not good," was all he could say.

"Do you think you can shadow-travel?" I asked him.

"Well, no."

"Why not kid?" asked Coach Hedge, "We are kind of in a desperate situation!"

"Well, I need a shadow, first of all. And do you see a shadow?"

I started looking around, trying to find even the smallest tree that could cast a big enough shadow. But the only shadows were the ones made by us, and the ones made by the hydras...

Suddenly, inspiration struck me. It was an insane plan. There was a very small chance that it would work. We might even die in the attempt. But it was our only hope.

I scooped up Nico and started running towards the hydras. He was surprisingly light.

"Hey!" yelled Nico, "Put me down! Where are we going? Why are we going this way? Reyna! The hydras are right there! REYNA!"

I ignored him. I heard Coach Hedge running behind me, bleating.

"Are we gonna pound them?" asked Coach hopefully.

"Yup," I answered.

Nico looked like I had lost my mind, but I still ignored him.

When the hydras were about fifty feet away, I yelled to Nico, "Get ready to shadow-travel!"

Comprehension dawned on Nico's face, and he understood what the plan was.

"You are insane," he said weakly.

"It's gotten me this far," I replied.

Coach let out a battle cry, raising his club above his head. Even though I couldn't reach my sword, and even though I was practically defenseless, I joined him.

When the hydras were about ten feet away from us, Coach threw his club with all his might and it hit the first hydra with so much force that it turned it to dust instantly. I managed to reposition Nico on my shoulder in a fireman's lift, and I grabbed my sword with my other arm and fought with Coach. I managed to kill two of the hydras, while Coach got the fourth. Coach was about to kill the last one when I stopped him.

"Wait! We still need a shadow!"

Hedge lowered his club rather solemnly, then quickly dived out of the way at the hydra shot acid at him.

"How are we going to get to it?" asked Coach.

Before I could even say "I don't know," Nico dived out of my arms like a professional swimmer. I yelped, and managed to grab his ankles. Coach grabbed my legs. Instead of colliding with the ground head-first, we disappeared into the shadows...

When we were out of the shadow, I realized that we weren't on solid ground. Then I looked down.

_Oh schist._


End file.
